The Other McCawber Girl Part I
by DarkwingPsycho
Summary: Morgana's exiled sister finds her way to Duckburg and meets some influential characters, including the Beagle Boys, Scrooge, and Gizmoduck. Is she truly the monster she was raised to believe she is? COMPLETE PLEASE R
1. Prologue

**The Other McCawber Girl**  
by Amanda Rohrssen

**Prologue**

_From a world that's never-ending,  
From a sky beyond the skies,  
A child is born and love is made  
Alive_  
Spock's Beard, _Snow_

The scream erupted out of the depths of the chamber, resounding through the entire estate and turning the heads of all within its ubiquitous clutches. A shudder of indescribable pain rippled through the manor. It was time.

The castle stood high and proud, haughtily overlooking the small village some distance away as it always had since the McCawber family had settled there long ago. Like his father before him, Moloculo McCawber had taken his place not only as head of the household but also as the head of Transylvanian society. The power behind the McCawber name had always been backed by money, and Moloculo was always sure that his word was final where business matters were concerned. The McCawbers were well known for their shrewd business conduct, and when it came to family it was seldom a different affair.

A second scream tore through the castle.

"Are you _sure_ you can't _do_ something?" snapped Moloculo, gripping his wife's hand as her scream quelled into soft whimpering.

"I've already given her more than I should have," the doctor replied reproachfully. "It's almost over," he added with a softer tone to the laboring woman. "Just a couple more pushes and you can rest."

The woman nodded her pale head wearily, her ebony hair plastered against her head, drenched with sweat, and her gray eyes glossy. Though she was in tremendous pain, she could not hide her excitement and clutched her husband's hand tighter as she began to push again.

Just beyond the doorway a pair of large black eyes watched with anxious fear and anticipation. A tiny hand gripped the doorframe as the child drew slightly closer until another agonized shout pierced the air, halting her mid-step.

Silence descended suddenly, save for the child's own raspy, shallow breathing. What was wrong with her mother? Her eyes widened and she took a hurried step backward, releasing the doorway as soon as a terrified, ear-splitting cry erupted throughout the room. The doctor was holding up something strange that was covered some kind of slime. The girl shook her dark locks of hair in disbelief, taking another step backward as she stared at what was making the noise.

"What . . . what _is_ that thing?" Moloculo asked under his breath, a look of sheer incredulity on his elongated face.

The doctor stood with his back to the woman, who had collapsed back onto the bed from exhaustion after a single glimpse of the newborn, but at just an angle for the father to be able to look upon what had just come into the world.

"I-I'm not sure . . . it . . . it looks like-"

"I know what it _looks_ like!" Moloculo snapped. "I want it taken _care_ of. Cut those off!" He pointed hastily to the infant. "I don't want word of this to _any_one, do you understand?"

The doctor looked from the calming baby to the scowling businessman and smiled cunningly. "Then it's gonna cost extra."

"Fine. Just get it over with before my wife wakes up! I'll pay whatever amount you wish."

As the doctor walked across the room with the infant, the small girl standing outside of the doorway crept closer, curiosity overcoming her initial fear. She took a step inside of the doorway, just near enough to clearly see what the doctor was doing. A sideways glance told her that Moloculo wouldn't catch her because he was busy tending to his wife, so she focused all of her attention on the table to her right.

The creature she had seen was no creature at all, but a tiny baby. It had a beak like her, feathers as white as hers, though a little bloodstained, and it had big gray eyes that reminded her of her mother. With that thought she chanced another glance toward Moloculo, then looked at the resting woman. It was then that she understood: the baby on the table was her sister. Only one feature was a little unnerving for her, though with the realization that the baby was her sister it didn't bother her so much anymore. But what was the doctor doing to her?

A flash caught her gaze and she gave a small gasp. The knife glinted in the light again before the doctor brought it down upon the infant's back, sending a barrage of tortured shrieks through the castle.

Moloculo's head turned toward the noise with a grim expression until he caught sight of his daughter. "Morgana, get out of here! I _told_ you to wait outside!"

She didn't have to be told twice. She whirled on her heels and tore blindly out of the room, trying desperately to get away . . . but her sister's screams continued to follow her.


	2. Outcast: Chapter One

**_Part I: Outcast_**  
**Chapter One**

_I only know that I can change,  
__Everything else just stays the same,  
__So now I step out of the darkness  
__That my life became_

Staind, "Fade"

Leaves crunched in protest under her bare feet amidst the mud already caked there from her escape down the menacing slope that surrounded the place she had once called home. Her long hair clung to her in tendrils of gold, drenched by the pouring rain, and her eyes stared forlornly behind her at the brightly lit windows of the castle.

A thunderclap caused her eyes to jerk toward the sky, and a flood of despair and fear coursed through her frail body.

As the rumble faded away, she stole another glance at the castle before turning and continuing, knowing that she would never again feel the warmth within those walls or the safety of the stolid roof guarding her head.

"_What do you _mean_ you won't go through with it?!" Moloculo raged, taking two strides toward his daughter and glaring down at her through both his glass eye and his good eye._

"_I . . . I don't want to hurt anyone . . ." she cringed, backing up against the wall like a rabbit cornered by a rabid hound._

_Moloculo sighed heavily. "There is no other _way_, Ariana. Something must be done to show them that monsters are _not_ to be reckoned with!" He put a hand on her shoulder. "How else do you expect to get revenge for what they did?"_

"_That's not what she would have wanted . . ." Ariana ventured, turning her face away from her father._

"_Don't talk back to me! This is what we've been _working_ for all these years! Are you just going to throw that away?"_

_She felt her resolve weaken at the disappointment and disapproval in his voice._

"_I . . . that's not what I . . . there has to be another way . . ." She rubbed her arm anxiously, her stomach twisting like a sponge._

"_There is not. Now stop this foolishness."_

_A minute burst of resentment spurred within her. "It is not foolishness . . ." she muttered._

"_Oh, but it is." He clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing to slits. "You're _my_ daughter, and you'll do as I say!"_

_Ariana shrank back as far as the stone wall would allow, her eyes looking up at Moloculo with fearful determination._

"_Father, I . . . It's not right . . . I won't help you hurt them!"_

"_You will if I _say_ you will!" he snarled. "Even if I have to use _force_! I will _not_ let it go without a fight, _do you understand me_!?"_

"_But-"_

"_NO!" He reeled his arm around, balling his hand into a fist with the wild glint of rage in his eye._

A cry spilled between her lips, and she brought her hand up to her reddening, throbbing cheek. The next time she made sure to duck under any stray, wiry branches belonging to the dead trees spanning the outskirts of the village.

The night grew dead quiet.

The only noises she became conscious of were those of her pounding heart and her shallow, raspy breaths as she drew near the quaint, silhouetted cottages lining the single dirt road that ran through the village. Each soundless step she took heightened the fear coursing through her body, and her eyes darted this way and that for an indication that anyone was awake.

When she reached the outskirts on the opposite end of the Transylvanian settlement she exhaled gratefully, checking behind her one last time for a sign that the villagers knew she was there.

There was none.

She closed her eyes momentarily, trying to calm herself, and turned around to face the dark outline of the woods up ahead.

A shrill gasp escaped her throat as she opened her eyes.

"H-hello . . ." said an uncertain voice.

She squinted in the darkness, trying to make out the face belonging to the voice.

"It's me . . . Terren," he said lowly, his eyes flitting about nervously.

"Terren . . ." she repeated slowly. Her eyes fell to the ground as she tried to recall where she'd heard that name before. Suddenly it hit her and her eyes lit up with recognition. "Terren!" she breathed.

Her excitement faded as quickly as it has sprung up. She looked around uneasily and then at the dark figure in front of her.

"You're not . . . not going to wake them up, are you?"

"No," he replied hesitantly. "I just wanted to say that I'm . . . I'm sorry about what happened before. I was stupid."

"It's all right . . ." she said, even though she knew it wasn't.

"I'm glad you're okay, though," he added lamely. "Where are you going so late?"

She wanted to ask why he wanted to know, but instead she poured out the whole story, tears beginning to rain down her porcelain cheeks as she fought to keep her voice steady.

"He can't do that to you!" declared Terren firmly when she had finished.

"He already has, Terren," she said hopelessly.

"Well I'm not going to stand by and let him ju-"

He had started for the castle, but Ariana held him back by the sleeve.

"Don't! Just . . . let it go . . ."

"I made that mistake before. I saw you just now and thought . . ." he trailed off, sighing heavily. "Ariana, where will you go?"

"I don't know," she responded slowly, looking past him toward the black horizon. "I'll be okay."

"But . . ."

She made her way around him and he could protest no further. As her

tiny form disappeared into the darkness he could see her stop once to turn and wave at him. He returned it half-heartedly and murmured under his breath.

"Goodbye, Ariana."


	3. Outcast: Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

_Promises mean everything when you're little,  
__And the world is so big,  
__I just don't understand how  
__You can smile with all those tears in your eyes  
__When you tell me  
__Everything is wonderful now  
_Everclear, "Wonderful"

"_Ariana?" a soft voice asked as someone knelt beside her. "Baby, why are you crying?"_

_The golden-haired child mumbled something unintelligible and clutched her knees more tightly against her chest as she sniffled into them. The woman to whom the voice belonged rested a soothing hand upon Ariana's upper arm and the girl raised her head slowly to look at her._

"_Come on . . . what has you so upset?" she asked again gently with the hint of a soft, reassuring smile about her beak._

"_Mommy?" answered the duckling, her gray eyes watering over with tears. "Do . . . do you think I'm ugly?"_

_The woman shifted her position to sit beside her daughter and gently pulled the child into her lap._

"_Never . . ." she whispered. "How could you even ask something like that?"_

"_They said I was . . . and Daddy said-"_

"_Never mind about your father. Just leave it to me to set it right." She leaned forward and nuzzled her daughter's cheek, adding in a whisper, "Okay?"_

_Ariana laughed and wriggled a finger in her ear, smiling through the tear trails. "That tickles!"_

"_Not as much as this will!" She grinned over her daughter's head and tickled her mercilessly._

"_No!" protested the girl before she broke out in wild, uncontrollable laughter that rang as clearly and sweetly as a bell._

Abruptly the laughter was drowned out by a blaring horn. Ariana gasped shrilly and froze, terror restraining her feet to the pavement. All thought vanished from her mind, and all she could do was stare into the headlights.

Suddenly, instinct struck her and she thrust an arm out in front of her.

"_Omnis conspectus, omnis audivi, in noctu usque ad saxum commutatio dum caelum ardeo!_"

Instantaneously the semi halted, though its tires were still spinning furiously. She lifted her hand slightly and the truck rose a few feet into the air.

Her entire body was trembling with fear and shock.

She swallowed thickly, her heart thudding laboriously within her chest and her eyes wide as saucers. She continued to stare at the semi.

The door opened, and the driver fell to the ground. A few seconds later he was on his feet, and his frightened eyes were centered on Ariana. He took a few steps backward warily before turning and running full speed.

"Help! Help, a demon! A witch! Somebody help me!"

Blinking slowly, Ariana's thoughts began to come back together. Gently she let the truck sink back to the street and watched the man disappear into the distance, waving his arms wildly.

All of a sudden she felt so alone. She wanted nothing more than to be at home in the comfort of her father's arms. It had suddenly become so cold out here.

Then she remembered that she couldn't go back. She would never see home again. The force of the memory hit her like a slap in the face, and she could feel her heart lurch with pain.

Suddenly she could no longer repress what she had held inside for days. Tears spilled down her face in a flood of emotion. Strangled sobs emanated from her throat, echoing around her in a serenade of sorrow and hopelessness.

She had nothing and no one.

What was she going to do now?

* * *

_Ariana pursed her beak bitterly as the final chorus of her class' song faded away._

We took each day and made it shine

We wrote our names across the sky

We ride so fast, we ride so free

And I had you and you had me

Please remember, please remember

_The last thing she wanted to do was remember her years at Webminster. She could not recall a single moment she'd been happy on the school's campus, except…except when she'd danced in his arms._

_She bit her lip, preventing the inevitable smile that accompanied the giddiness whenever she thought about him._

He's not _mine_, _she reminded herself harshly. _He didn't even _want_ to dance with me - he _had_ to.

_She closed her eyes tightly, but the feel and smell of him refused to abandon her._

Still… _she thought with a sigh,_ it was wonderful.

_"…Miss Ariana McCawber!"_

Huh?_ She inhaled sharply, suddenly remembering she was in the middle of her graduation ceremony._

_Mr. Greytalon, the headmaster, was smiling down at her from the podium. A rare and rather frightening sight._

Whoops. He's giving out diplomas already? I must've missed his entire speech!

_"Miss McCawber?" Mr. Greytalon wasn't smiling anymore._

_Quickly Ariana stood up from the first chair in her class and walked up to the stage with the grace of a butterfly._

_To most in the audience, the very sight of her golden blonde hair and large innocent eyes was appalling. Only one thing kept them from gossip. She was a McCawber._

_As she approached Mr. Greytalon for her diploma she could feel her entire body begin to quake with nervousness. Her throat went completely dry down to the pit of her stomach, which had decided at that very moment to do flip-flops._

Please don't make me talk, please don't make me talk, _she pleaded silently, shaking Mr. Greytalon's hand and taking her diploma from him with the other._

_"Ah, our star pupil," he said slowly. "And what do you plan on doing after graduation?" He backed away from the microphone expectantly._

_Ariana gulped and stared at it for a few moments before shuffling a couple of steps forward and murmuring, "I…I plan on working with my father."_

_"Excellent!" declared Mr. Greytalon, resuming his place behind the podium. Before she could go by him, however, he leaned toward her, dropping his voice to a low growl that only she could hear. "I know what you are. Guard your secret well or I'll see to it that you become _Webminster's _best kept secret. I will not have the school's name tarnished because of some-"_

_"Um, Mr. Greytalon? I hate to interrupt – I know you're very proud of Miss McCawber here as we all are – but there _are_ other students who need their diplomas," winked the Transylvania superintendent as she patted him lightly on the forearm and flashed Ariana a grin that she returned only half-heartedly._

_Mr. Greytalon nodded and allowed Ariana to walk past him and back to her seat, but his suspicious, glaring eyes followed her._

_He cleared his throat, plastering a smile on his face again, and called the next name, but Ariana did not hear it. What had Mr. Greytalon meant? What secret? How could she tarnish the school's name? She could barely speak in public!_

_Moloculo gathered his youngest daughter into his arms and held her tightly against him. Smiling softly, she closed her eyes and breathed in his cologne. She loved the way her father smelled. It gave her a sense of comfort, of love, of home. Even if deep down she knew it was a sham, she loved him above everything else she had._

_"I'm so proud of you, my daughter. Webminster valedictorian. I knew you had it in you." He pushed her back slightly to look her in the eyes with a fondness his face seldom betrayed to her. "If only your mother could've been here – but don't worry. The time for revenge is near. We'll talk more about that at home."_

_Ariana dropped her gaze and stared at the grass beneath her feet, but he didn't seem to notice how unsettled he'd made her as he proudly led her toward a group of his high society friends as if she were a giant trophy proclaiming his greatness as a warlock and father._

_For a moment she had simply been his daughter, and she had felt loved._

_For a moment.

* * *

_

Sunlight intruded upon her slumber, casting away the comfort of darkness. Reluctantly she opened her gray eyes and yawned. As her eyes focused she suddenly grew very frightened and wondered where she was. Birds chirped merrily around her like a beautiful symphony, a sharp contrast to the cries of the bats in Transylvania as they fled the sun's rays in favor of damp, formidable caves.

She sighed softly.

It was dawn.

Stiffly she arose and stretched her thin frame languidly, yawning again to the orange-purple sky.

She stifled the yawn with a gasp of surprise when she caught sight of what she had been sleeping under.

It was a billboard.

**WELCOME TO DUCKBURG  
**

An hour later Ariana found herself among more normals than she had seen in all her life. She was filled with an anxious fascination as her eyes flitted from the buildings to the cars to the passersby. While the city itself wasn't very different from those she had been to in Transylvania, it was less gloomy, seemed cleaner, and, of course, magic was absent. But it was the simple truth that normals inhabited it instead of monsters that really captivated her. It was an amazing sight.

So enraptured was she by her surroundings that it wasn't until her gaze fell upon a single normal that reality jolted her out of her dreamlike state. The normal immediately averted his eyes when he realized she was looking back at him and continued down the sidewalk, careful to avoid her eyes as he passed.

A sudden feeling of dread shrouded Ariana and she turned around in all directions, looking from normal to normal with a slight panic. Did they know she was a sorceress? What would they do to her? Now it suddenly seemed as if everyone were looking at her the way that normal had been.

The thought of the truck driver from earlier struck her. Would they all run away from her as he had?

Her stomach sank even more as the weight of her worry increased. Where could she go if she couldn't go home and couldn't live among the normals? What then?

Still . . . why couldn't she live among the normals? All she would have to do would be to hide her powers, right? Suddenly a feeling of excitement seized her thoughts. It didn't look so hard; she could be a normal! Maybe here she would be accepted and liked, all she had to do was keep her past a secret.

A smile spread across her weary, downtrodden face. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for. This was her chance to start over, to build her own life, and to prove that she could _be_ somebody. If she kept her abilities secret until the right time, maybe she could even get the normals to accept her kind.

Her excitement began to build more and more as Ariana wandered through the crowded sidewalks.

_What should be the first thing that I do?_ she wondered. Her eyes searched the passing faces for an answer until she caught a glimpse of a sign next to the door of a brick building.

**FOR RENT  
****furnished one bedroom  
****$550/month  
****inquire within**

Finding a place to live was out of the question, then, as she didn't have any normal money with which to pay the rent.

_I'm going to need a job,_ she concluded. How did one go about obtaining a job in a city of normals? She supposed she'd have to ask somebody, but the thought of doing that made her stomach turn in knots. The fear of how they might look at her or what they might think of her asking such a question pushed her away from the normals and against the brick wall where she remained and quietly watched them walk by. In the back of her mind she knew that she would get nowhere unless she went and asked somebody for help, but her apprehension chained her in place and silenced her voice. She was just too afraid of what might happen.

Then something fluttering in the breeze caught her eye.

A wave of gratefulness swept over her when she realized it was a sodden newspaper – well, at least parts of one.

Eagerly she lifted it up and said, "Jobs."

Nothing happened.

She shifted her weight and looked around her nervously before trying again.

"Um . . . help wanted ads?"

The paper didn't so much as rustle.

She frowned, immediately feeling embarrassed at the paper's lack of movement. Back home the newspaper would automatically turn to whichever section the reader wanted. Maybe the rainwater staining this one had somehow damaged it.

Carefully turning each page so as not to tear them, Ariana at last came to a list of ads for jobs and began searching.


	4. Outcast: Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
**

_Love is trusting,  
Love is honest,  
Love is not a hand to hold you down,  
I don't know when I got bitter,  
But love is surely better when it's gone_  
Tonic, "You Wanted More"

She blinked a few times, his words not settling in completely. "P-pardon me?" she managed. Her throat had gone dry and her tongue seemed to have grown five times its normal size.

"I said, 'you're hired,'" repeated the duck in spats sitting on the other side of the large mahogany desk.

Ariana sat a few moments more in stunned silence, her mind reeling.

"Are you all right, lassie?" he questioned with his heavy Scottish accent, raising an eyebrow.

She snapped back to the present and smiled appreciatively. "Oh yes, I just . . . I can't believe . . . Oh thank you, Mr. McDuck!"

"All right, never mind that. You start tomorrow. Here's the address, and don't be late!"

"Yes, sir, Mr. McDuck. Thanks again!"

With a smile that refused to leave her bill, Ariana drifted out of the lofty skyscraper as if she were walking on air. It had been such a long time since anybody had given her a real chance at anything, and it felt to her an opportunity to prove herself. She was determined not to let her new employer down.

* * *

When the first day of work arrived for Ariana she felt more nervous than she had ever been in all her life. Nausea gripped her insides and her stomach churned ceaselessly. 

She had found a tiny apartment near the north side of Duckburg, using a loan Mr. McDuck had been kind enough, albeit reluctant, to grant her for the deposit and first month's rent. Why he had been so obliging she never knew.

As she walked down the cracked sidewalk from her apartment building toward McDuck Studios, all she could think about was what could go wrong and how she could prevent those things from happening. She wanted so desperately to make a good impression and, she hoped, to make some friends. If the normals in Duckburg were anything like the ones in Transylvania, she knew the latter would be much, much harder.

At last she came before the enormous iron gates. Pausing, she gazed up at them in awe, her bill hanging slightly open. Except for the McDuck Studios at the top, they looked almost exactly like the gates at home.

A horn blared suddenly from behind her, nearly making her lose all of her feathers.

"Outta the way, ya fat cow!" a brassy voice thundered.

Quickly she jumped to the side of the street just as a Jaguar sped by her, nearly

clipping her as it flew through the studio gates after being given clearance. The driver was a balding, paunchy dog with red tufts of hair combed flat against his miniscule head.

Ariana gulped, shaking a little, and walked up to the security station, the man's voice still ringing inside of her head.

"ID," the droopy-eyed guard said listlessly as he held out his hand.

"W-what?" Ariana replied in surprise. Mr. McDuck had said nothing about obtaining any specific identification.

"ID! You know, the card they issue ya on your first day. It's got your picture in the corner there," he pulled out his own ID card as he explained, obviously grateful for anything to do besides watch the grass grow, "and your employee number at the bottom there. You do have one of these, don't you?"

She bowed her head and shook it, looking up at him bashfully.

"'S your first day, huh?" He smiled kindly. "Don't worry about it; it's not that bad," he added after she had nodded the affirmative. "First timers go over to that door right there and down a flight of stairs straight into the office. You can't miss it."

Feeling herself blush, Ariana flashed him a grateful smile and quickly turned away before heading in the direction he'd indicated.

"Have a good day, ma'am!" he called after her, waving his guard's cap. "If you get bored, you can always come and see me! The name's Trey!"

Now she knew her face was _red_.

She had found the office easily and clutched her newly acquired ID card anxiously in her hand. _Up three flights in the elevator and to the right. Mr. Dodson,_ she repeated to herself. The last thing she wanted was to get lost in this huge building full of strangers.

The next thing she knew she was looking up at thick gold letters outlined in black that read:

**Thaddeus Dodson  
Production Manager**

_It'll be okay, it'll be okay,_ she reassured herself, taking a long, deep breath to calm her nerves. She knocked softly on the door with the knuckle of her index finger.

"Yes?" an austere baritone snapped from within. 

Mustering every ounce of courage that she could, Ariana wrapped her lithe fingers around the doorknob and pushed it open. An overweight canine with wisps of red hair clinging to his bald head looked up from a pile of papers with an intimidating scowl. The same canine who had nearly run her over earlier.

"About time you showed up," he snapped, obviously not recognizing her.

She glanced at the clock. She was five minutes early.

"Let's make this quick." He sighed loudly as if showing her around was the biggest annoyance in the world.

"Here's yer desk. Don't ask me for a bigger one; that's all ya get, understand?!"

She nodded her head meekly, even though such a thought had never crossed her mind.

"If ya got any questions, keep 'em to yerself! I got enough o' my own work to do without some lame-brained girl askin' me stupid questions. Now get started!" That said, he lumbered away from her cubicle. Ariana didn't exhale until she heard his office door slam shut. Her knees faltered and she sank into the stiff wooden office chair, shaking all over. Mr. Dodson scared her. Half of her wished she could go back to Mr. McDuck while the other half wanted to just go back home. Doing the former would make her seem ungrateful, and doing the latter would demolish any hope left of following her dreams.

"Don't let that numbskull scare ya," a voice piped in from directly in front of her.

Ariana's head shot up toward the sound and locked eyes with a curly-haired duck around her own age who was peering at her from over the neighboring cubicle wall.

"My theory about why he's so grouchy," she continued, "is he's upset that his stubby arms can't pick the wedgie out of his month-old briefs."

She giggled at her own joke and Ariana joined in, automatically feeling a little more at ease.

"First day, huh?" the girl's head asked.

Ariana simply nodded with a small, nervous smile.

"I'm Krysten." She extended an arm over the top of the carpeted wall with an exuberant grin.

"I'm Ariana," Ariana replied, shaking the girl's hand.

"Ow, ow!"

Ariana automatically let go.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"Just kidding," Krysten grinned, laughing spitefully. "You're all right, kid."

Ariana did not like being teased like that; it humiliated her. Nor did she like being called "kid," but Krysten seemed nice enough she supposed. She was the first person to bother introducing herself to her, anyway. Maybe Duckburg wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

It had been some months since Ariana had started her job at McDuck Studios, and she was growing accustomed to her new life, though at times she longed to see her family. Especially her sister. 

Oftentimes she would wonder what Morgana had been doing, what she was doing at that moment, and if she would ever see her again. Other times she would think of Terren and her life at The Webminster Academy of the Dark Arts, and her heart would sink. For all of the happy times she had had with her friends of the past, they were all gone now – either having betrayed her or forgotten her – and to think of them was to put herself through a miserable longing that she knew she couldn't banish because it was impossible to go back and change things. She also knew it was useless to dwell on old wounds, but no matter how much she tried erasing them from her mind, the scars were still there. Even if she had done things differently, it would have been lying to herself, and that above all else she would not do.

"Hey! Ariana!" a voice cut into her thoughts. She blinked, coming back to the present to find Krysten not a foot away from her, staring.

"Huh?"

"I said your name, like, five times. You okay, kid?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ariana replied, suppressing a flare of anger.

"Okay," Krysten shrugged. "What're you doin' later?"

"After work?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know. Why?"

"'Cause me and some friends are going to The Roxy tonight. Wanna come?"

"The Roxy? What's that?" Ariana asked curiously, already getting an inkling of aversion.

"Boy, you _haven't_ been around, have you? It's a dance club. You ever been to one of those?" Her tone was slightly patronizing to Ariana, though not intentionally so.

"No," Ariana replied evenly.

"Then you _have_ to come. No excuses. I'll come get you at eleven, okay?"

Against her better judgment but determined to fit in, Ariana nodded slowly.

"Good. See you then!"

With that, Krysten rounded the corner and out of view. Ariana planted her elbows on top of the desk and rubbed her temples. It was true she wanted to live the life of a normal, but…dancing?

* * *

_"Boys! Line up! Girls! Take a rose!"_

_Ariana slipped toward the bucket brimming with black, dead roses, feeling the sting of anxiety swarming through her. She chanced a look at Devin and suddenly grew warm and cold all at the same time. He was _so_ handsome._

Ouch! _Immediately her finger went into her mouth and she could taste the metallic, salty flavor of blood. Glancing down at her rose's stem she could see her blood gleaming on one of the thorns._

_"Today I'll be teaching you the traditional Transylvanian Waltz. Girls, once you've chosen your rose…"_

_The rest of what Ms. Spector was saying was lost to Ariana. Devin was standing only a few feet away, talking to the boy next to him while the instructor was speaking. Even though she knew it was rude, somehow that made him all the more endearing to her. _

_Abruptly her heart leapt into her throat. Had he looked over at her just then? Was he talking about her? Oh God…he _was_ looking at her, and…and he was _smiling_ with those _per_fect dimples of his!_

Maybe he wants me to choose him! _she thought excitedly, trying not to clutch the rose too tightly._

_"…_must_ dance with the girl who hands him her rose. To do otherwise will result in dire consequences."_

_Suddenly an organ chord blared eerily through the gym and lightening flashed along with a roll of thunder at Ms. Spector's final two words. All of the students in the Webminster gym flinched._

_The boy beside Devin whispered loudly, "Where'd that organ music come from?"_

_Before Devin could reply, Ms. Spector hissed at him warningly._

_As soon as her face settled back into its sour frown, Victorian-era symphony music suddenly filled the room and they all looked at one another uncertainly, save for one black-haired wolf. Devin looked right in Ariana's direction expectantly, his attractive smile still playing about his jaws. Ariana could barely swallow._

_From seemingly off in the distance, Ms. Spector's voice said, "Choose your partner."_

_As if of their own free will, Ariana's bare webbed feet flitted directly to Devin, who was now grinning broadly. Tentatively, her stomach in knots, she held out her rose to him. His smile dropped noticeably as his eyes fell to the rose before him. His handsome face darkened slightly, and he looked up at the rose's owner with well-masked disappointment. Grudgingly, Devin took the rose from her hand, accidentally brushing against her fingers and sending a thrill through her from her beak to her toes. He then glanced quickly over at Ms. Spector, who was giving him a pointed look, before slowly stepping toward Ariana, taking her hand in his, and wrapping his other arm around her waist._

_It was like a dream come true, something that someone could only feel in a fairy tale. She was floating, falling, flying through the very wish she had envisioned countless times before. Except that this time she could _feel_ the taunt muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt where her hand lay upon his shoulder. She could _feel_ the warmth of his breath upon her hair, the warmth of his body against hers. It was almost more than she could bear._

_As if to make doubly sure that this wasn't just another daydream, Ariana lifted her head to stare into the steel blue eyes that had entranced her since her first day at Webminster. The way his unkempt bangs shrouded parts of his eyes and forehead from view made something flicker in the pit of her stomach that she'd never felt before. Drunk with happiness, it was devastating when the music was abruptly silenced and Devin's touch was gone. She blinked as if waking from a deep sleep and watched Devin walk toward his group of friends. Impulsively she took a step after him but stopped when a piercing pain shot through her foot. Lifting it slightly she saw her black rose demolished on the wax, sweat-stained floor of the gym. Slowly, with the gentleness of a mother with a newborn, Ariana lifted it into her arms and admired it as if it were the most beautiful jewel in all of Transylvania._

I'm always going to remember this day,_ she promised herself._

_Though still feeling slightly faint, she glided toward Devin and the group of boys surrounding him._

This is it. I'm going to do it. I'm finally going to do it. I'm going to ask Devin Crawler on a date. Oh God – Goddess – whatever Powers exist, _please_ let him say yes. I've had a crush on him for four years – _please_ let it finally turn into more than that. I want to know what it's like to have…a boyfriend.

_All of a sudden she halted in her tracks. She had heard her name amongst the pubescent male voices in the ring. Some snickering followed. An uncomfortable feeling wafted over her, but Ariana resumed stepping closer to them._

_"Shut up!" she heard Devin snap quietly. "It's not like I _chose_ to dance with that freak! Ms. Spector wouldn't put a hex on me or something!"_

_Again, she stopped dead._

_"Regina Featherbelle was _going _to give me _her_ rose but that stupid McCawber girl got in the way! I only danced with her because I _had_ to! It's not like I _like_ her or anything!"_

_One of the boys sniggering turned his head and caught a glimpse of Ariana. Instantly he whipped back toward the group and whispered loudly, "Hey! I think she heard you!"_

_Devin poked his head out from the middle of the cluster and sneered at her haughtily. "Good."_

_The boys parted as he stalked toward Ariana and leaned down menacingly, looking right into her eyes._

"_If you think you've got a chance with a guy like me, you'd better check your crystal ball again. Just because you're a McCawber witch doesn't mean that I'm going to treat you better than you deserve! You're a freak and a brainiac AND you're ugly! Just look at yourself!" Spiteful laughter erupted from his throat and his face twisted with contempt and malice at the sight of her watering eyes._

_She did not flee in tears as she would have done were it anyone else, nor did she tremble or wail or show any outward sign of emotion except for the untamable liquid in her eyes that she longed to gain control of._

"_What's going on here?" Ms. Spector barked, coming out of the back room._

"_Nothing. Just putting someone in their place," muttered Devin callously as he led the rest of the boys out of the gym._

_Ariana stood there, clenching her hands in tiny fists and gritting her teeth together, but it was no use. She suddenly began to tremble violently, such that her knees gave way beneath her and she crumpled to the floor, sobbing wretchedly. Covering her face with her hands in an attempt to muffle her miserable cries, she staggered to her feet and ran blindly toward the doors leading outside._

_Black petals lay scattered where she had fallen, along with a thorn-adorned stem. And among the rose pieces glistened countless drops of crimson blood. _

The chill touch of a hand around her wrist startled her, chasing the remnants of memory back into the far reaches of her mind.

"Ready, kid?"

They were just outside of The Roxy, and the bouncers had already checked their ID's to make sure that they were at least 18. Ariana felt ridiculous in the outfit Krysten had made her wear, not to mention that she was freezing in the chill January air. She also felt cheap underneath the layers and layers of make-up that Krysten had painted on her face, but if that was what she had to wear to fit in that was what she would wear.

The chest-thumping beat of the music blared obnoxiously from within and the stench of cigarette smoke coiled through the air toward them like transparent claws, beckoning them into the shallow darkness.

Ariana swallowed meekly and nodded, letting Krysten pull her inside. Immediately they were engulfed by a swarm of people dancing, bumping, grinding, rubbing against one another, and Ariana clung as fiercely as she could to Krysten's hand, apologizing quietly each time she brushed against someone as they inched through the crowd with the music blasting in their ears. Deeper and deeper they walked into the neon-illuminated haze until the immense heat made their palms so sweaty that Ariana's fingers began slipping out of Krysten's hand. Afraid of being stranded in this sea of hormonal, gyrating bodies, Ariana clutched at Krysten's fingers just as somebody bumped into her, jerking their hands apart.

_Oh no_, she thought frantically, searching all of the bobbing faces for Krysten's.

The music abruptly turned sour in her ears, taunting and scorning her. The unfamiliar masses undulated around her, trapping her in a menacing, heaving, pulsing ring of nauseating smells and sensuous movements. Ariana had never felt so out-of-place in her life. More than anything she wanted Krysten to reappear and save her from this circle of strangers that crept toward her more and more as each moment passed.

Panic exploded in her stomach when she distinctly felt a man's lower region come into contact with the small of her back.

"Hey baby," he murmured overly-suavely into her ear – the rank smell of alcohol on his breath.

Instinctively Ariana leapt away from him as if he were a poisonous viper. Frightened tears threatened to spill down her face, but she held them back, wriggling desperately through the crowd until finally her salvation came into view. An empty barstool. With a grateful sigh she raced toward it and plopped down on the flat wooden top. No one was seated near her, only a few people scattered here and there at the opposite end or on the other side of the square-shaped bar. The bartender in the middle of the square eyed her with amusement and asked her what she wanted to drink.

She replied with a shake of her head. "Nothing."

It would be another year before she could drink alcohol according to normal law anyway.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, Ariana placed an elbow on the bar top and rested her cheek in her hand.

_I wonder where Krysten is…_ she thought miserably. _She probably doesn't even realize I'm gone. Why did I even come? I knew this was a bad idea._

_You didn't know a dance club would be like this,_ another voice replied logically from within her mind. _Now you know so you can avoid them later._

The pounding music was beginning to give her a headache. She groaned loudly and propped up the other elbow to bury her face in her hands.

She did not notice the young, clean-shaven duck watching her from the stool diagonally to her right. Nor did she notice the bartender now standing directly in front of her, holding a drink out with an impatient expression scrawled across his haggard, sleep-deprived features.

The sound of a glass slamming against the countertop jolted Ariana from her woeful musings. She stared at it for a few seconds before looking up at the grouchy bartender, confusion written across her make-up caked face.

"B-but I didn't order-"

"From dat guy," the bartender snapped, pointing at the young man who was now talking to two other guys with his back to the bar.

She couldn't stop the heat that rose to her face, nor the shy smile that spread across her bill. "Oh, but I'm not old enough to-" She cut herself off when the bartender leaned down toward her with a very unfriendly glare.

"I won't tell if you won't."

Her beak opened but no words came out. Instead she gulped and nodded slowly until he rose and went to fill another customer's order.

She looked down at the drink for a few long moments, studying its vibrant blue color and wondering what it tasted like and why someone would buy one for her. She took another glance in his direction and just as he was about to turn back around, someone grabbed her forearm and pulled her roughly away from the bar. Relief washed over Ariana when she realized it was Krysten. Praising every god and goddess she'd ever heard of, Ariana shuffled quickly behind her sour-faced friend out of the club and into the freedom of the cool night air. Two steps out of the doors and Ariana paused to close her eyes and take a deep, comforting breath.

Krysten had yanked her away from the bar in such a huff that she had not had time to taste her drink let alone get a glimpse of the face of the man who had bought it for her. No stranger had ever bought anything for her before. She felt her face growing hot again. Could it be that a guy…liked her…?

_No,_ she answered that tiny hopeful voice flatly. _Stop doing this to yourself. You'll only end up getting yourself hurt if you let yourself believe in something that's never going to happen._ She shook her head sharply until Krysten's voice pierced her thoughts.

"Ariana! Come _on_! I'm _tired_! Let's _go_!"


	5. Outcast: Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

_This is the place where I sit,  
This is the part where I love you too much,  
Is this as hard as it gets?  
'Cause I'm getting tired of pretending I'm tough _

I'm here if you want me,  
I'm yours, you can hold me,  
I'm empty and achin' and tumblin' and breakin'

'Cause you don't see me  
And you don't need me  
And you don't love me  
The way I wish you would,  
The way I know you could

I dream a world where you'd understand  
That I dream a million sleepless nights,  
I dream of fire when you're touching my hand,  
But it twists into smoke when I turn on the lights

I'm speechless and faded,  
It's too complicated,  
Is this how the book ends,  
Nothing but good friends?

'Cause you don't see me  
And you don't need me  
And you don't love me  
The way I wish you would

This is the place in my heart,  
This is the place where I'm falling apart,  
Isn't this just where we met?  
And is this the last chance that I'll ever get?

I wish I was lonely  
Instead of just only  
Crystal and see-through and not enough to you

'Cause you don't see me  
And you don't need me  
And you don't love me  
The way I wish you would,  
The way I know you could

'Cause you don't see me  
And you don't need me  
And you don't love me  
The way I wish you would,  
The way I know you could  
Josie and the Pussycats, "You Don't See Me" 

The small ornate clock on the end table chimed one o'clock as Ariana sat hunched over a myriad of hastily scribbled notes and half-drawn sketches. Surrounding her were a few pencils that busily scrawled on the remaining blank pieces of paper. Why had she not started on this sooner? She had known it would be a big project the moment Mr. Dodson had given it to her as part of her new position.

She had been promoted to character design a little over a week ago and had fallen in love with it. At first she had been a little dubious about taking the job because it was well known throughout the animation department that Krysten had wanted that job since she'd started there over five years ago. Ariana had been there a little over six months. But the position had been offered to her first, and while she felt horribly guilty, at the same time she knew it was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. Krysten didn't seem to mind, at least not outwardly, so Ariana had pushed the worry from her mind and had begun concentrating on her new projects instead. This one had been given to her only two days beforehand and was supposed to be ready for presentation the next morning. She wished she hadn't wasted all that time at the club; now she was going to be up all night.

After a few minutes of trying to repress it and focus on her work, the stress and tension that had been building up inside of her became too much. Her fingers started shaking and her breath came in heaving gasps as she desperately tried to keep herself from crying. Why did she always take on more than she was capable of? Sure, she could use magic to help her out when no one was looking, but that still didn't seem to front her much of an advantage.

Taking long, deep breaths through her nostrils, Ariana willed herself to calm down.

The phone rang suddenly, jarring her out of her frantic thoughts. While she was grateful for the interruption, she was also irritated because it took time away from her work.

"Hello?" she answered with the calmest tone she could muster.

"_Ariana? You busy?_" sniffled a low feminine voice.

"Krysten?"

"_Yeah._"

"Well, I..." Ariana looked longingly at her stack of papers, the pencils still drawing furiously of their own accord. "I do sort of have-"

"_Okay, great, see you in a few minutes._" The line clicked dead.

Ariana looked at the receiver for a moment before thrusting it back in its cradle, gritting her teeth. Then she thought the better of it. Krysten was obviously upset about something and needed her there. Ariana was flattered that Krysten would turn to her; she just wished it had been at a better time. It was very unsettling for her to hear Krysten, who almost never showed any emotions except anger and an extreme love of picking on other people, on the brink of tears.

With one last mournful look at her unfinished project, Ariana waved her hand and left her apartment, leaving the pencils to roll lifelessly over the pages.

* * *

Back outside in the wintery breezes, Ariana wondered to herself what it could be that had shaken Krysten so terribly. She had seemed very angry when they had left the club earlier that night and even angrier when she had dropped Ariana off at her apartment complex, but she had never said what was bothering her nor did Ariana try to pry while Krysten was in such a mood.  
What had happened to her in the club?  
_  
The club...The Roxy._

Ariana's thoughts started to drift as snowflakes began to fall lazily from the heavens like tiny white feathers. She remembered the back of the man who had paid for her drink, his longish, thick dark brown hair falling loosely down the back of his neck. She wondered what he looked like, what sort of person he was, what his dreams were...  
_  
No!_ she snapped at herself, shaking her head. _Don't do this to yourself again! If you do, it might end up like it was with..._

_"Terren!" Ariana called merrily over the screaming, frigid wind. "Terren, where are you?"_

In her hands she clutched a long woolen scarf she had knitted herself without the aid of magi, a feat which she was very proud of, especially since she'd also managed to keep it a secret from Moloculo. Each stitch had been woven with great care because she'd known from the start it would be a gift for Terren...the first normal (not to mention the first boy_) who had shown her kindness._

Her already pink cheeks flushed when he came to mind along with a thrill of excitement. He's going to be so surprised and happy! _she thought. _Maybe then he'll know how I...how I feel about him.  
_  
The vision of him taking her into his arms, gently brushing the hair away from her face like he always did, and kissing her softly on the forehead made her feet begin to fly over the powdery surface of the fresh Transylvanian snow, faster than she ever knew she could go._

When she reached the back of his house she turned down the neighboring alleyway. She heard the sound of his voice just up ahead, and she felt her heart lunge into her throat and threaten to abandon ship. When she reached the corner, however, she stopped abruptly, her leather-bound feet sinking into the snow melting about her ankles.

He was laughing. "Thank you, Brigitte, this'll really come in handy!"

Ariana gulped dryly at the utter happiness in his voice and dared to peek around the corner.

There he was. Standing a few feet away opposite a girl with long auburn hair and lilting hazel eyes. A sudden blaze of resentment flared through her, centered directly on that girl. Just who was she to make him so happy? That was her_ job!_

Then her eyes fell on a thick woolen scarf draped across his hands. It was as if someone had dropped a million ton weight on her heart.

They drew closer to one another.

"It's a gift...you mean a lot to me, Terren," the girl whispered.

"You mean a lot to me, too," he replied softly, drawing her close to him and tenderly stroking any wayfaring hair from her cheek.

I thought I was the only one he did that to...  
_  
Ariana barely noticed how white her knuckles were or how much they ached as she gripped the scarf she'd worked so hard on for the past two months._

He and the girl named Brigitte stood there for what seemed an eternity, each passing second killing Ariana a little bit more. Finally Terren pulled Brigitte close and held her against him, breathing in the scent of her hair.

It was all Ariana could do to keep from screaming and running out of her hiding place to rip them apart. Jealousy and rage burned agonizingly within her breast, and the scarf - the beautiful scarf that held everything she felt for Terren in its coils - fell to the muddy, sloshy ground in a heap. Her throat burned, and tears blinded her eyes. Quickly she turned on her heels, not even noticing that she'd stomped the scarf deeply into the mud, and ran away from them, away from the rage, and away from the pain. But she couldn't seem to outrun it.

701 Nottingham, Apartment H. Ariana hesitated before knocking on Krysten's door.

Not two seconds later, the lock snapped open and behind the door stood Krysten with red-rimmed eyes and a wadded up tissue in her hand. She stepped back to let Ariana inside, and then shut the door behind her.

Ariana turned and looked quizzically at her friend, waiting for her to tell her what the matter was.

"You can sit down, you know," Krysten said flatly as she made a beeline for a Kleenex box on the counter.

Ariana sat down.

Without warning, Krysten suddenly kicked the wall with such violence it would have made a hockey player cringe.

"_Damn_ it!" she screamed, her face wrenching into a pained snarl. "Why are all guys such _jerks_!?"

A large dent remained where she had attacked the wall. Ariana watched almost fearfully. She didn't know how to handle Krysten when she got like this. It was a side of her Ariana liked to avoid.

"That-" Krysten said a word here that made Ariana cringe, "-two-faced scumbag! He broke up with me for _HER_! Anyone else I could have handled but the biggest-" again with the nasty word, "-in the company?! ARGH!"

Krysten slammed her fist down on the countertop, making the cups sitting on it rattle in protest.  
"How could he _do_ this to me after all I've done for him?" Krysten plopped down beside Ariana, her face red with rage.

Ariana decided it best not to mention that the only times she could recall between Krysten and her now ex-boyfriend were times when Krysten would gripe at him or make fun of him or tease him to the point of humiliation. (Much like Krysten treated everyone in her life.)

"He said I'm not trustworthy," she added lowly, her brown eyes narrowing. "I'm trustworthy! Why doesn't anyone trust me?!" Krysten was on the verge of hysteria. Tears were already brimming again in her eyes.

Thinking only to make Krysten feel better, Ariana responded. "I trust you." She laid her hand softly on top of Krysten's shaking ones.

"Prove it," Krysten challenged fiercely, withdrawing her hands from underneath Ariana's as if they'd been scalded with molten lava.

Ariana blinked, quite taken aback by Krysten's reaction. "W-well..."

"I knew it," said Krysten bitterly, resting her chin in her hands.

Taking a deep breath, Ariana hastily made a choice. "If I show you something..." she said slowly, her voice unsteady, "...will you promise not to tell anyone?"

* * *

It was 8:40 a.m., and she was ten minutes late. Briefcase in hand and her arms full of sketches and notes, Ariana hustled her way through the building, having to shift everything around every time she had to open a door. Her stomach was in knots and her mind was racing with a million simultaneous thoughts as she tore down the hallway. Just when she was about to reach the conference room she careened headlong into someone going the opposite way. Papers went flying and Ariana flew backward onto the floor with a gasp of surprise.

"I'm sorry; I didn't see you!" she apologized hurriedly, beginning to gather up all of her sketches and notes in a panic.

"Hey! Relax, kid," replied a familiar voice.

Ariana jerked her head up and met eyes with Krysten, who smiled and shook her head.

"A little jumpy, aren't we? Don't worry about the meeting, I stalled 'em," she winked. "Now just take a deep breath and then go inside. You're gonna knock 'em dead."

Immediately Ariana felt a little better and smiled gratefully, taking Krysten's advice and inhaling deeply. Taking the rest of the papers off of the ground, she stood up, turned the doorknob, and entered the conference room.

"Ah, finally decided to join us, eh Miss McCawber?" Mr. Dodson drawled disapprovingly from the chair at the head of the table. It was empty save for him, but the thought that this was unusual did not cross her mind. Ariana felt a rush of guilt wash over her as she made her way to the front of the room.

"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled apologetically.

"Uh, Miss McCawber?"

She stopped, looking back at Mr. Dodson with an almost terrified expression.

"That won't be necessary. We've already seen some excellent work from Miss Wrennard." He motioned to a few drawings and poster boards laid out on the table. "We won't be needin' your presentation after all. In fact, this company no longer needs people of your…caliber…working here. Pack up yer things, Miss McCawber, and don't cause a scene. I want you outta here within the hour."

"But…but sir," she managed to sputter, looking helpless and perplexed.

"You're _fired_ Miss McCawber. I trust ya can find yer own way out without an escort?"

"I…" she started to argue, the complete unfairness and spontaneity of the situation making her temper rise, but she knew that were she to try it would only make things worse. "Yes sir…" Resignedly she hugged her papers closer against her.

On her way out Ariana glanced at the tabletop where the ideas Krysten had presented to the board were sitting, and her eyes grew wide. Everything that had been in her arms cascaded to the floor, and with an unsteady hand she picked up one of the drawings, her jaw hanging open. It had taken her hours to come up with the concept of the character that smiled at her from the page. It had taken her hours to refine the costume, to discover the pose that best suited the personality, and to pencil in every detail that gave the character its believability. It had only taken Krysten one night to steal it.

All of a sudden Mr. Dodson snatched the drawing from her hand, an increasingly irritated scowl scrawled across his jowls. "Good _day_, Miss McCawber."

Once outside of the conference room, Ariana hunched over her briefcase and opened it with a spell, in too much of an upset to worry about concealing her magic. From the bag she pulled out a binder of her best works – the works she had intended on making the biggest impression with Mr. Dodson – and opened it hurriedly. Her heart froze and a cold shiver ran down her spine. Every single page in the binder was blank. The sketch she had picked up from the table had been from that binder. Someone had stolen her work and replaced it with empty pages.

And that someone had to have been Krysten Wrennard.

"Have you seen Krysten?" Ariana asked the first person she saw, not giving her usual shyness time to impede her.

"In the break room," the spindly little dog yelped as he dodged out of her way. Anger consumed her to the point that guilt was eliminated from her conscious mind. She needed answers, and she needed them now.

With a set jaw, Ariana stormed into the break room where she found Krysten, thankfully alone.

"Oh," Krysten said as she turned from pouring herself a cup of coffee, "hi Ariana. How did your presentation go?" Her voice was dripping sarcastic sweetness.

"How could you do this to me?" Ariana demanded barely above a whisper.

"Do what?" Krysten asked innocently, taking a sip of her coffee.

"You know what I mean." Ariana's patience was wearing thin. "You took my drawings."

"Oh, that. I was only taking what rightfully should have been mine."

"What?" Ariana's face went desperate with confusion.

"I've wanted that job since I _started_ here! You _knew_ that, but you took it anyway!" Anger and bitterness suddenly twisted Krysten's face into a hateful glower.

Ariana felt terror in the pit of her stomach at the rage in Krysten's eyes. She'd seen that look before. Still, her feet remained planted on the floor.

"Krysten…you said you didn't care…you said I could go ahead and-"

"Don't turn this around on _me_!" Krysten shouted. "You took it away from me! And you know what?" Her voice dropped dangerously low. "Since you like betrayal so much, I think I'll tell your little secret to everyone else here like I told Dodson this morning…" A cruel sneer snaked across Krysten's beak.

Ariana's eyes widened. "No! Krysten, please!"

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?"

"You can't!" Her plea came out choked and weak.

"Awwww, gonna cry now?" Krysten pouted, mocking Ariana's distress. "If you think that's gonna stop me, you're wrong." With a flick of her curly hair, Krysten sauntered toward the wide open door. Just before she reached it, it slammed shut and locked. "Wha-?" The expression of surprise Krysten held slowly melted into a smirk, and she turned around to face Ariana again and folded her arms. "Oooo, nicely done. But if you think I'm scared of a freak like you, you're wrong."

"I thought…I thought you were my friend…" Ariana's voice wavered.

Krysten only smiled in a satisfied way. "I knew you'd come over. It gave Woody plenty of time to get those drawings with the key you gave me. Then you fell for my act perfectly by telling me your dirty little secret, and now I have something to use against you should you try and claim credit for _my_ drawings…"

"You…you used me…" Ariana's heart sank. She had trusted Krysten – been there for her when she needed her – and she had put up with Krysten's taunting and abuse all for nothing. She had been taken advantage of as soon as Krysten hadn't gotten something she wanted.

"Now work your little voodoo and open this door," Krysten demanded.

The ache turned to fire in Ariana's throat, and she narrowed her eyes. She had had enough of being patronized. "No."

"No?" Krysten stepped toward Ariana. "You don't have a choice here, kid. It's _my_ job now whether you like it or not, so pack up your things and hit the road."

"Not until you tell me why," Ariana replied slowly, her voice razor-sharp.

"Why? For one thing, how am I supposed to be friends with a _monster_? You waltz around and think you're _so_ perfect and better than everyone else. Maybe you used your magic to get that job. Did you brainwash Dodson with a spell?"

That was as far as Krysten got before a blast of silver blue light propelled her backward through the door, shattering it into a thousand splinters. With a heavy thud, she slammed into the wall just beyond the broken doorway and sank to the floor, unconscious.

Ariana stood slightly hunched forward, breathing heavily with wide eyes. Her fingers were still tingling.

Moments later, people began crowding around Krysten's limp body and peering through the destroyed door into the break room at Ariana. Their eyes were wide and full of fear. Already she regretted what she had done. Their expressions were enough to tell her that her life in Duckburg was coming to an end.

With stiff legs she made her way through the wreckage toward her office, and the throng of onlookers parted to let her pass. Slowly, she began gathering up her things. Some empty boxes had already been placed on her desk.

As she was packing, a framed photograph on the corner of her desk caught her eye. Both she and Krysten smiled out at her from the picture, their cheeks rosy in the winter air. They had had so much fun together that day.

Ariana placed the photo face down in the box, picked the box up, took one last look around the office, then left McDuck Studios for good.


	6. Outcast: Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

_When I walk, stay behind,  
__Don't get close to me,  
_'_Cause it's sure to end in tears,  
__So just let me be  
__  
Some will say that I'm no good,  
__Maybe I agree,  
__Take a look then walk away,  
__That's all right with me  
_  
'_Cause I'm a lonely stranger here,  
__Well beyond my day,  
__And I don't know what's goin' on,  
__So I'll be on my way  
_Eric Clapton, "Lonely Stranger"

The pavement felt cold and gritty underneath her webbed feet as Ariana neared the outskirts of the city. As dusk settled, the heavens were painted in gray and pink streaks that trailed after the fading sun like kite tails. Off in the distance the silhouette of the McDuck money bin towered over the skyscrapers, and a flicker of hope smoldered inside of her as she caught sight of a stately mansion on the block up ahead. Thick iron gates surrounded it in an unwelcoming manner, yet Ariana continued to draw nearer when she recognized the McDuck emblem on the overhang. Glancing up, she noticed two surveillance cameras positioned on either corner of the gate entrance, but neither of them moved at her approach. Thinking nothing of it, Ariana turned her attention to the intercom snugly installed into one of the brick columns and pressed the small white button. Loud static hissed and crackled for a few moments, followed by silence.

_Maybe it's broken,_ she thought to herself, stepping up to the gate and putting a hand around one of the bars. As she looked through the iron fence at the McDuck mansion she heaved a small sigh. _It was a stupid idea to come here…he's already done so much for me. _

Then, to her surprise, the gate door she'd touched swung open easily with a soft creak. A bad feeling rose in the pit of her stomach, but she chose to ignore it. Gently she put the box of belongings from her office down just inside of the gate, hiding it behind the trunk of a tall dark green tree, and made her way up the ridiculously long driveway toward the front door of the mansion.

Just as she was about to ring the doorbell, the door swung open and a short, stocky figure plowed right into her. A sharp cry flew out of her throat as she and the person tumbled to the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" a nasally voice snapped. Then the figure looked down at his hands before frantically patting himself all over. "Where is it?" he muttered, crawling along the ground searching for something.

He was small, though not so small compared to Ariana, and wore a red shirt, green hat, and blue pants.

"Come on, Bigtime, we gotta get outta here!" cried another canine as he charged through the open doorway with a large sack slung over his back.

Ariana watched the second man disappear out of the gate until something caught her eye in the growing moonlight. It was a small silver coin.

"Is this what you're looking for?" she asked timidly, picking it up and holding it out toward the canine.

"Gimme dat!" he snapped, snatching it from her just as a third person emerged hastily from the McDuck mansion followed by an enraged Scrooge.

"Come on, Bigtime!" the third yelled over his shoulder to the first, his arms full of food.

Bigtime tipped his hat to Ariana quickly with the flash of a sinister grin before zipping after his comrade.

"Come back here you mangy miscreants!" Mr. McDuck shouted after them, shaking a fist. The trio, however, was already gone.

Yet another figure appeared behind Scrooge. He had been tied from head to toe and a gag was shoved in his bill. He tried to say something, but Scrooge ignored his muffled grunts and instead began to shout at him.

"I leave you to go check my figures at the bin for _five minutes_ and-!"

The bound duck shrank back slightly, looking sheepish behind the gag. Mr. McDuck scowled and yanked the gag out of his beak.

"It wasn't my fault, Mr. McDuck, they jumped me from behind!"

"It's never your fault, Fenton," Scrooge retorted agitatedly. "You were supposed to be keeping an eye out!" Then he suddenly seemed to remember Ariana's presence. "And what are _you _doing _helping_ thieves like them!? If it wasn't for you, I could have my Number One Dime back right now! Is this how you show gratitude for the job I gave you? Well, lassie, my generosity ends here! You'll work for no company of mine! You're blacklisted from here on out. Now get off my property! I've got to catch up with The Beagle Boys!"

Before Ariana could even form any kind of response to his accusations, he'd disappeared into the mansion, yelling for his butler, Duckworth.

"…I didn't know…" she finally managed, her voice small and meek.

Fenton looked at her sympathetically, having been the victim of Mr. McDuck's temper numerous times himself. She turned and slowly made her way to the front gate - pausing to look back and flutter her fingers at Fenton - gathered up her box of things, and walked away. Fenton blinked, noticing the ropes were suddenly loose, and shrugged them off, his eyes following Ariana curiously until she was out of sight.

She stood in front of the "welcome" billboard for a few long minutes, thinking through the day's events and wondering what she could do now.

_If only he'd come out sooner,_ she thought wistfully, _he would know I didn't realize…If he'd only come out sooner, he wouldn't hate me._

Losing her job and Krysten in the same day had been a harsh blow, but having Mr. McDuck – the man who had put faith in her when no one else would – angry at her…it was nearly unbearable. She felt so guilty her heart ached with each breath she took. Had she known they were stealing from Mr. McDuck she most certainly wouldn't have helped the crook find the coin he'd been searching for. She wondered what was so special about such a small piece of money. It had looked like any ordinary dime to her, but Mr. McDuck had referred to it as his "Number One Dime". What significance did it have? It was obviously very important to him, as he didn't seem too upset about anything else The Beagle Boys had taken. The thought of seeing Mr. McDuck again, though, terrified her because of what might happen and what he might say to her. Even if he truly hated her for the mistake she'd made, she knew she couldn't leave town without trying to reconcile somehow. A moment's indecision was all it took. She knew how she was going to do it. Setting her belongings near the billboard behind some brush, she squared her shoulders. She would go after The Beagle Boys herself.

Closing her eyes and putting her fingers to her temples, she whispered the words to a location spell she'd learned at the academy. If she thought of a person hard enough while repeating the spell, it would lead her to where the person was at that moment. Slowly her feet began to rise off of the pavement a few inches as she chanted, and the magic pulled her toward town.

It wasn't until she got to the other side of Duckburg that the magic suddenly vanished, and Ariana fell heavily to the pavement. But the spell hadn't ended because she'd reached her destination. Something had distorted it. Ariana now felt a very powerful presence directly across the street, so powerful that it made her breath catch in her throat. Thoughts of Scrooge's Number One Dime fell second to the sudden, intense desire to find out what it was she was sensing. She turned in the direction the feeling was strongest and found herself facing a winding hill that sloped backward, and on top of that hill sat a rickety, aged house, its wooden siding gray and weatherworn. The high gothic roof was sharp and angular, slicing into the dark blue sky like the jaws of a viper. She tried to swallow, but all of the moisture seemed to have evaporated from her throat and mouth. While the house itself was nothing new to her – architecture like that was quite common among her relatives – the aura she was sensing gave her an overwhelming feeling of fear. Her mind was reeling with orders to flee, but even though she felt threatened by the presence, she was also captivated by it. She'd never felt anything like it before.

Almost as if of their own accord, Ariana's feet moved slowly up the base of the hill, her eyes never leaving the house even to blink. The slamming of a heavy door broke the silence that had surrounded the house, and Ariana stopped dead in her tracks upon recognizing the three silhouettes now making their way down the drive toward her. Quickly she ducked behind an enormous, dead oak tree and pressed her back against it, the bark digging into her shoulder blades. As they passed she could clearly see the white numbered plates attached to the collars of their shirts.

"Boy, she sure was happy ta get that dime. Whaddaya think she'll do wid it, Bigtime?"

"Who cares? We got our money – now we can rip off da bin. Come on, we gotta bust Ma outta the slammer. She'll wanna see the look on ol' Scroogie's face!"

With that, The Beagle Boys scurried out of sight. Ariana exhaled loudly. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding her breath. Apparently the spell had both worked and been interrupted. Tentatively she peered back around the tree at the house. Whoever it was in there now had Scrooge's Number One Dime, and she knew she had to at least try to get it back no matter how much dread the mere sight of the manor gave her. The presence was much, much stronger here, and the feeling of fear returned with equal intensity, yet she forced herself to keep walking toward the house until she'd reached the front door. Just as she was about to put her hand on the knob, it turned and the door swung open wide of its own accord.

"Come in, dahlink," a slithery Hungarian voice beckoned. "I have been vaiting for you."

A dense cold washed over Ariana, and her throat suddenly went dry. Against her better judgment she stepped inside, and as soon as she did the door slammed shut behind her. Ariana let out a gasp of surprise and jumped away from the door, looking around herself warily. Whomever the voice belonged to was the one she had sensed as having great and evil magical powers; she just knew it. And she was terrified.

Suddenly, in a puff of green smoke, a short, black-haired duck wearing a black dress appeared in front of her.

"I am Magica DeSpell! Greatest vitch dis side of de vorld! Who are you?"

It was difficult for Ariana to find her voice, but eventually she succeeded.

"A-Ariana…McCawber," she said.

"McCawber…?" Magica's eyes grew considerably wider, then recognition filled her face. "Ah! I can see it now. You are Moloculo's girl, yes?"

She nodded and swallowed. Did everybody know her father?

"He showed me photograph of you, but it has been years since I last talked to him. He spoke very highly of you. Ah! But vhere are my manners? Come in! Sit down!" Magica beckoned her into a small lounge where a modest-sized cauldron was bubbling in the fireplace. Noticing Ariana's gaze had drifted that way, she explained, "That is only my laundry."

They sat opposite each other at a small round table in the middle of which sat a crystal ball.

"You said you were waiting for me?" Ariana ventured, not fully understanding.

"Vhat, you tink dis is just for show?" the witch retorted, motioning to the crystal ball. "I knew _some_body vould come, but I vas not sure who. And now you are here. Moloculo has sent you for apprenticeship, yes?"

Ariana blinked, pondering Magica's assumption quietly. What apprenticeship? If she said "no," there was no way of telling how Magica would react and what Ariana's chances would be of finding and retrieving Scrooge's dime. If she said "yes," however, Magica might begin to trust her. She just hoped Magica wouldn't ask any more questions after that. Ariana was a terrible liar.

She nodded finally.

"Vonderful! Is perfect timink. I have just received final ingredient to perform spell maykink me kveen of Duckburg! All normals vill bow to my vill! _Especially_ Scrooge McDuck, for I have his Number Von Dime!" Magica laughed maniacally, pulling a small silver coin from her pocket and holding it aloft triumphantly.

Immediately, Ariana's eyes locked onto it. But how to get it away from Magica…

"May I see it?" she asked the witch, indicating the dime.

Instantly Magica had it clutched tightly in her palm like a precious jewel. "Sorry, but dis baby is stayink vith _me_! No von touches it, not even another vitch!"

Ariana had to struggle not to retort that she was no witch. She was a sorceress. They were completely different things.

Instead she simply nodded respectfully.

"First duty as apprentice is to gather up everytink I need for spell. Book is in other room to tell you vhat to get. Ve vill see how vell you mix potions. I vill be in here finishing my laundry."

There was nothing to be done at the moment, so Ariana did as Magica bade her. Once safely inside the next room, she leaned against the doorway to think. How was she going to get Scrooge's dime away from that witch?

As her eyes drifted over the open spell book and the many, many containers of potion ingredients, an idea hit her.

"Vell? Is everytink ready?" Magica demanded as she entered the room a while later.

"Yes," Ariana nodded. "I've already mixed everything for you…all that's left is to add the dime."

Before Magica even had time to be suspicious, a duck in a robot suit crashed in through a nearby window.

"Ah ha!" said Gizmoduck triumphantly, pointing at the two women across from him. "Caught you red-handed!" He paused, seeming to recognize Ariana. "You…?"

"You're too late, duck!" Magica shrieked, throwing the dime into the brew. It bubbled and fizzed nastily, before going unnaturally still. Before Gizmoduck had time to stop her, Magica scooped a goblet hastily into the potion and gulped it down. Once finished, a sinister, cunning grin crept across her beak.

But it wasn't there for long.

Magica raised her arms and started to chant a spell, her fingers glowing green, but she didn't get more than three words out before her eyes suddenly rolled back into her head and she collapsed to the floor, snoring loudly.

Ariana breathed a sigh of relief. Her plan had worked.

"What happened to her?" Gizmoduck asked curiously, putting a finger to his bill as he looked down at the sleeping witch.

"I made a sleeping potion instead of the one she wanted," Ariana explained meekly. She tipped over the brew, and as it spilled and thinned out over the floor, she saw something small and silver flicker in the dim light. Scooping it up, she held it out toward the hero. "Here…please tell Mr. McDuck that I'm sorry. I never meant to betray him. I won't trouble him any longer."

Gizmoduck took the dime, but stared at Ariana grudgingly. "But shouldn't _you_ be the one who gives it to him? You did all the work, and I know for a fact that you didn't mean to help The Beagle Boys." As he spoke he heaved the unconscious Magica over his shoulder.

Ariana lowered her eyes. Even though she knew she was innocent, she still felt strangely guilty. She shook her head, not even pausing to wonder how he could know all of that.

"I don't want to face him. I let him down."

"But I'm sure he'll get you your job back once –"

"Thank you," Ariana interrupted softly, "for being kind to me. I'll be all right. Maybe one day we'll meet again." She rested both of her hands on one of his mechanical arms and looked up into his visor. Even though she couldn't clearly see his eyes beneath the purple eyeshade, he could feel her gaze lock on to his for a few moments before she turned and made her way quietly out of Magica's house.

* * *

_End of Part I_


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